ILOILO: HEART of the PHILIPPINES

MANILA, Philippines – MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) took home the prestigious APEX Company of the Year award, held on October 13, 2026, at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, Resorts World Manila. MORE Power President and CEO Mr. Roel Castro received the award beaming with pride. Castro was also a finalist in the Asia CEO Awards. The APEX Company of the Year is awarded to companies that show significant innovation, contribute to economic advancement, demonstrate strategic leadership, and drive national transformation. “APEX company of the year recognizes companies that have achieved something significant but more importantly companies whose success can impact beyond their own organization,” says Haidee Enriquez of Microsourcing Group.  As a distribution utility, MORE Power strengthened its services in more than six years. It capitalized on rehabilitating the substations, put up new substations, put up insulated power lines, as well as a modern and centralized monitoring...

The area around the town of Bingawan, the edge of the central portion of the province is where it ends and the town of Tapaz, Capiz province begins and is very much another unsung corner of Iloilo with warm, friendly, welcoming people. Bingawan has some rich farming land and farming is at the heart of its village life. The landscapes are gorgeous here; with gentle pastures, to the high mountains. The area offers some beautiful hikes and bike trails across its lovely rolling meadows, woodland and a few working farms. The town would be less touristic than its neighboring towns but is well worth exploring. If you are concerned about how organic can contribute to benefit our shared environment, promote fair relationships and a good quality of life for all involved, then a trip to Connie Carillo Diversified Farm is for you. With the governments’ efforts to improve the knowledge and technical skills of the farmers, the Connie Carillo Diversified Fa...

Sta. Barbara is a colorful, romantic town with rich history and culture. Visitors should check out its historic center , the town’s most eye-catching architecture , the  Baroque-Renaissance architectural style of  the Sta. Barbara Parish Church and Convent. Constructed in 1849 and finished in 1878. The convent was built the same time as the church. Materials used in the construction of the church and convent were of adobe and coral stones quarried from Alimodian and red bricks used for the flooring, walls and posts. Materials were transported to the town through carts drawn by carabaos.  Connected to the side door of the church is its L-shaped convent of Antillan architectural style. The church served as the headquarters for the Ilonggo Revolutionary Forces in Western Visayas under General Martin Delgado in 1898. It was untouched during World War II and had withstood the 1948 earthquake. It was declared as a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Inst...

MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) continues to extend its commitment beyond reliable electric distribution service by supporting initiatives that create practical and sustained opportunities for communities, including Iloilo City’s urban farmers. The Harvest Festival held in Barangay Ticud, La Paz, Iloilo City, on September 24, 2026, was once again a success. The activity was spearheaded by the Iloilo City Agriculturist Office, together with the Ticud Farmers Association, under the program of the Iloilo City Government and private company MORE Power. Also in attendance at the event were the Executive Assistant to the Mayor and former Councilor Ely Estante, along with other stakeholders. More than 200 high-quality hybrid Fujisawa and Inthanon melons were harvested and purchased by MORE Power employees during the Harvest Festival. The event also featured various freshly harvested vegetables and fruits, giving employees and community members an opportunity to directly suppo...

The biggest fire in Iloilo City’s history erupted on February 7, 1966.  I was in my third grade at San Agustin and as we were bundled out of school I could see the plumes of black smoke beyond the school’s walls.  Fire engines wailed and people rushed about.  News reports say it started somewhere along Iznart, rapidly engulfing Ledesma, Quezon, Valeria, Delgado and Mabini streets, devouring 12 blocks of the city’s stores, theaters, schools, and hundreds of houses.  Photos from that time have an apocalyptic feel. It should have been a major blow, since Iloilo city was slowly recovering from the damage of WW2, had labor troubles at the port and was mired in petty local politics. Its “Queen City of the South” title was relinquished to Cebu.  However, in the conflagration’s aftermath, the city arose, phoenix-like, from the ashes.   Shanties and hovels that used to be in Delgado were relocated; small businesses arose, movie houses rebuilt—some ...

Iloilo City - MORE Power President and CEO Mr. Roel Castro is finally seeing some positive development amidst the power crisis affecting the country.  With the recent pronouncement by the Bureau of Internal Revenue removing the VAT on systems loss, Castro welcomes this move even if it is just a portion of a percentage comprising the entire monthly bills of consumers.  "This is a welcome move by the government especially by the Bureau of Internal Revenue by removing the VAT on system loss. We have to understand, this is a certain percentage of a certain percentage. We have to be thankful that goverment acted on this quickly so consumers can realize the reduction as soon as possible,” says Castro.  But the systems loss is just a small chunk of the problem by the power industry. The daily monitoring of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines shows a decline in power supply from the power generators. Continuous lack of power supply would still result to higher power ...

  Taking another major step toward building one of Iloilo’s most complete master-planned communities, Megaworld subsidiary Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. (GERI) welcomes the opening of The Abba’s Orchard School, one of the country’s leading Montessori institutions, as a pioneering addition to the growing lifestyle ecosystem of its 173-hectare Sta. Barbara Heights. The new campus marks The Abba’s Orchard’s first-ever presence in Iloilo, bringing its distinctive Montessori education system to a one-hectare, tree-covered site at the heart of Sta. Barbara Heights. This much-anticipated milestone signals the evolution of Sta. Barbara Heights into a more complete, family-oriented community—one designed around where people live, but more importantly, how they learn, grow, work, and build their lives. For GERI, bringing a respected educational institution into the township is part of its broader vision of creating a fully integrated, future-ready lifestyle community that responds to the needs...